34 



It irives mo irroat pleasure, in lookiuir ovor tho vahiahlc bo- 

 tanical lolUHtion mailo by Dr. Seoulor on the north-wost 

 roast of America, to tiiul a plant boloniiin^; to liis favourite 

 tribe, the J/itsci, wbieh, eonstitutiui; a new ii:enus, I am thus 

 abU^ to iledieate to him. During" three voars that Mr. Scou- 

 U r attended the (^oReiie course of botanical lectures, I wit- 

 nessed with satisfaction his increasinir love for natural hi- 

 storv ; and although the anatomv and phvsioloiiv of animals 

 be his most favourite pursuit, and the one by which it is to 

 be expected that he will, at a future time, rise to much fame, 

 — vet botanv has occupied a iiieat share of his attention, and 

 his herbarium includes nuich of novelty from the countries 

 which, like a second ^Nlenzies, he has visited, iuid, as a natu- 

 ralist, successfullv investijxatcd. 



The present moss. Dr. Scouler gathered in running streams 

 at Observatory Inlet, in a latitude nearly parallel with that 

 of London, on the north-west coast of America. At tirst 

 sight it might almost be taken for Ci/ic/idotf/s Jonti/iu/oides 

 or ^-J/iictafi^ii/m aqiiaticifni, but on a more careful examina- 

 tion, the fructitication will be found as widely different from 

 that of the species just mentioned, as from every other plant 

 of the order. Here are thirty-two distinct teeth, more or 

 less cleft at the extremity. The operculum does not fall away, 

 hut separates from the capsule by the sinking down (if I may 

 use the term) of the upper part of the capsule, which thus 

 assumes a hi^hlv remarkable yet constantlv rciiular depressed 

 shape ; and long after the dispersion of the seed, and in the 

 oldest state of the fructitication, the operculum firndy ad- 

 heres to the smnmit of the curiously exserted columella, 

 from which it can onlv be ren\oved by laceration. 



^Ir. Drmnmond has been so fortunate as to find the same 

 plant in a part of the Columbia which borders upon the 

 Rocky Momitains, and in other streams of that resrion ; 

 so that it is probably scattered over tlie whole extent of 



